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After seeing this a couple of times I finally started to get as much out of the rest of the movie as the initial training camp sequence. As structured as that was to the point that a man snapped the **** out, the rest of the war, and by extension the movie, was a giant pig**** of long sequences of nothing punctuated by moments of Hell. And you never knew when they were coming. When things finally happened(in the movie) they were surreal and nightmarish. It's subtle and works better upon repeated viewings so yeah, it probably doesn't work as immediately as the beginning of the film did, but that is, for me, the charm of the film. It's definitely a grower and not a shower. As far as Modine, always thought he was a little vacant, but that works for this movie...you always hear about the, what is it, 100 yard stare, where you focus by not focusing. I think he brought the right amount of detatched smartass in maybe the acceptance phase of death to the movie. Not perfect as a whole, but damned interesting.
For the most part, I agree. It took me a while to not feel a little disappointment with the second half after such a tremendous first half, but watching the film again last night, I think the second half is a far better "movie". It's not as funny, though it has it's moments, but it's intense as hell.Originally Posted by jerseydevil
The other things that really stand out about this movie for me are the sound (especially the original music), the cinematography and the editing. Watching it, I was reminded again why Kubrick is, in my mind, the greatest director I've ever seen.
There isn't a whole lot of original score to the film, but when there is, goDAMN, is it used well. The scene in the head where Pyle goes ape**** and the end with the sniper, the music absolutely makes those scenes. I was looking over the trivia on IMDB for the film after watching it last night and was surprised to find out that the composer of that music, Abigail Mead, is actually Vivian Kubrick.
The cinematography... I always love the way Kubrick shot movies. I love how in almost every single indoor shot that isn't a close-up, you can see both the floor and the ceiling. It doesn't sound like much, but next time you watch the movie take a second to notice it. It's an interesting way of shooting and despite the fact that it looks great, you don't see many others do it. I also really like the way the camera follows or leads Ermey as he walks around the barracks. That's probably a little less unique, but for some reason I notice it more when I watch a Kubrick film (especially The Shining). It stands out.
This is my favorite war movie.
Out of curiosity, has anyone read this?
I need to buy it at some point. I love reading anecdotes and footnotes about Kubrick movies. He seems like such a weird guy.
Yeah, it's a short story called "The Short-Timers" by Gustav Hasford. It's been out of print for a while now, but I Googled it and found a site that lets you download a PDF version for free.
Also, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Hasford was one of the few people who actually liked Kubrick's adaptation of his work.
EDIT: Here's the page: http://www.gustavhasford.com/ST2.htm You have to download each of the three parts separately.
Last edited by Atticus; June 15th, 2011 at 04:42 PM.
watched it again today and most of the flick made me wanna go to perversion
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvNBdSerHVU"]YouTube - ‪MINISTRY Thieves‬‏[/nomedia]
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[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewDTZD-j0BU"]YouTube - ‪Modulate - Skull****‬‏[/nomedia]
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I think too many people are shortchanging the second part of the movie simply because of the excellent character performances in the first part by Emery and D'Onofrio.
The second part of the movie really focused on the emotions involved in war. The bravado shown in the banter between Joker and Animal Mother, the confusion when Cowboy realizes they are off course, the cowardise when several want to leave Eightball there after being hit by the sniper, the rush and shame when Joker shoots the female sniper with a handgun.
One of the best overlooked quotes from the movie seems to sum up the entire war.
You know, fightin' in a basement offers a lot of difficulties. Number one being, you're fightin' in a basement!
Hasford and Kubrick had an early falling out according to the the Wiki entry. Doesn't mean he didn't like the finished product, though:
*link*In 1985, Kubrick contacted Hasford to work on the screenplay with him and Herr, often talking to Hasford on the phone three to four times a week for hours at a time. Kubrick had already written a detailed treatment. The two men got together at Kubrick's home every day, breaking down the treatment into scenes. From that, Herr wrote the first draft. The filmmaker was worried that the title of the book would be misread by audiences as referring to people who only did half a day's work and changed it to Full Metal Jacket after discovering the phrase while going through a gun catalogue.
After the first draft was completed, Kubrick would phone in his orders and Hasford and Herr would mail in their submissions. Kubrick would read and then edit them with the process starting over. Neither Hasford nor Herr knew how much they contributed to the screenplay and this led to a dispute over the final credits. Hasford remembers, "We were like guys on an assembly line in the car factory. I was putting on one widget and Michael was putting on another widget and Stanley was the only one who knew that this was going to end up being a car." Herr says that the director was not interested in making an anti-war film but that "he wanted to show what war is like."
At some point, Kubrick wanted to meet Hasford in person but Herr advised against this, describing The Short-Timers author as a "scary man." Kubrick insisted and they all met at Kubrick's house in England for dinner. It did not go well and Hasford was subsequently shut out of the production.
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